Celebrate spring at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show

The Northwest Flower & Garden Show’s marketplace of plants, bulbs and seeds from azalea to zinnia and display gardens — with a “The Silver Screen Takes Root … Gardens Go Hollywood” theme — delights gardeners through Sunday at Washington State Convention Center. Your yard may not look much like the show’s 23 designer gardens full of flowers in bloom, exotic plants and imaginative accessories, but each is designed with features to provide inspiration for any garden, though you don’t have to be a gardener to enjoy the show.

Movie fans will appreciate display garden themes including “A Hobbit’s New Zealand Garden: Middle-Earth Meets the Arboretum’s New Eco-Geographic Forest” and “In a Garden Far Far Away: An Edible Forest Sanctuary” inspired by the “Star Wars” saga. Other movie themes include “Mary Poppins,” “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Lost Gardener: A Journey from the Wild to the Cultivated” inspired by “Jurassic Park,” “King Kong” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

New features at the 25th annual show include Vintage Garden Market vendors and the Garden to Table Cooking Series chefs’ demonstrations on how to use edibles you’ve grown. Admission to the show is free for kids and there’s plenty for them to do at the Playgarden with dirt to dig in, chickens and bunnies to pet, seeds to take home and Sprout Stage live musical performances featuring Caspar Babypants Friday and Recess Monkey Saturday.

Gardening seminars in three venues offer continuous free presentations on a variety of topics; the schedule notes which events are suited for new gardeners and/or small spaces and/or edible gardening. The show’s Marketplace offers plants, bulbs and seeds, gardening tools and accessories of all kinds and botanical art by more than 300 exhibitors, plus information from gardening organizations.

Show services include package check, to drop off your plants and other purchases until you’re ready to leave. (With all those choices, it’s easy to end up with more than you can carry, as this gardener and Garden Show fan can attest.) Other show features include floral-arrangement and container-garden displays and an orchid show and sale.

There’s food and beverage service on site, including a wine garden, or if you’re making a day of it, you can leave the show and get your hand stamped for same-day re-entry. Parking is available at the Convention Center and other local pay lots.